Press Release
The 13th Ordinary Session of the General Assembly (GA) of the Governing Council of the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) will be hosted by the Arab Republic of Egypt in Cairo.
The GA, which will hold from 13-15 June 2023, will consider and guide the formulation and pursuits of AMCOW aspirations and ongoing interventions. These include mobilising the active involvement of the Member States and partners in the formulation of the post-2025 Africa Water Vision and advocating cooperation in the management of water resources through multi-sectoral approaches and water-energy-food-ecosystem perspectives.
The GA will also raise its profile and increase awareness of the value of water as the most precious resource for life and key to climate change adaptation and resilience. The assembly also presents a platform for setting a biennial agenda for Africa’s water and sanitation sector by the Council of Ministers. The principles of a bottom-up-top-down approach will be applied to adopt continental policy initiatives informed by Member States’ priorities at the national and regional levels.
Similarly, ownership of these initiatives is demonstrated by their domestication for implementation at the appropriate levels. It is in this regard that AMCOW executes its mandate as the working group on water and sanitation of the Africa Union’s Specialised Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment (ARDWE).
The expected outcome would guide cooperative action in the management of Africa’s water resources to support continent-wide aspirations for social transformation, economic growth, regional integration, peace and security. It will also guide the application of information and knowledge resources to promote best practices in water policy reforms and water, food and energy security.
The Council would also agree on transboundary water resources management and water services provision, initiatives, action on climate change adaptation and mitigation studies and developing policies and strategies for mitigating and managing water-related disaster risks.
AMCOW plans to strengthen mechanisms to assure commensurate financial flows to the sector to deliver on continental and global commitments to achieve African water and sanitation goals.
About 135 participants are expected, including representatives of the African Union Commission (AUC), the 55 Ministers responsible for water, 55 TAC and Technical Experts Committees (TEC) members, staff of the Ministry for Water and Irrigation of the Arab Republic of Egypt and AMCOW secretariat.
Photo Credit. Nile River by Harold Edwin Hurst, Charles Gordon Smith, Magdi M. El-Kammash: Encyclopedia Britannica
